For Immediate Release:
October 3, 2008
Contact:  Anne Bayefsky
(917) 488-1558
 info at EYEontheUN.org

“Equality” at the United Nations
under the management of
the Organization of the Islamic Conference

October 8-9, 2008: The only two substantive planning sessions for the UN’s so-called “anti-racism” conference - known as Durban II - were deliberately planned over major Jewish holidays, including the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur.
September 30, 2008: By contrast, in order to observe the Eid holiday to mark the end of Ramadan, the United Nations shut down totally in both New York and in Geneva.

The real double-standards:

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 The Kyoto Mechanisms: Key to combating climate change?
The International Institute for Sustainable Development and The Earth Institute at Columbia University invite Climate-L readers to attend an important high-level discussion between Yvo de Boer and Jeffery Sachs on the role of the Kyoto Mechanisms in combating climate change in New York, Thursday, October 9, 2008 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Seating is limited and will be reserved on a first come first served basis. If you would like to attend this event, please register online at www.earth.columbia.edu/calendar. If you are unable to attend, the discussion will be webcast at http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/1775.

Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will discuss whether a carbon market or carbon taxes are the best way to cut greenhouse gas emissions—a critical question for governments working to establish a framework to address climate change amid a global financial crisis and market uncertainty.

IISD Climate Change and Energy Director John Drexhage is the moderator of the event, designed to focus attention on a critical core element of the global climate change negotiations in the lead up to Copenhagen in December 2009.

Other discussants are Geneva-based International Emissions Trading Association President and CEO Henry Derwent and Columbia University Ewing-Worzel Professor of Geophysics Klaus S. Lackner.

Date:                           Thursday, October 9, 2008
Time:                           9:30 to 11:30 a.m. EST
Location:                    555 Alfred Lerner Hall, Columbia University‎
2920 Broadway, New York, NY (between 114th and 115th Streets)
Map:                           http://www.columbia.edu/about_columbia/map/

Seating is limited. Register online at www.earth.columbia.edu/calendar

This event will be webcast at http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/1775. Links to the webcast will also be available at www.iisd.org and www.unfccc.int

From:        info at partnersforinnovation.com
Subject:     Partners for Innovation newsletter October 2008
Date:     October 2, 2008

www.partnersforinnovation.com

NEWSLETTER

October 2008

Al Gore on 14 October in the Netherlands
Al Gore will visit the Netherlands on 14 October, two years after his movie “An Inconvenient Truth” was released. Gore will speak to more than 2,000 attendants in the Event Centre in Aalsmeer. Initiator of Gore’s visit is Maurits Groen, director of MGMC, with whom Partners for Innovation have a strong collaboration on climate issues. See for example our joint website www.co2-neutraal.nu. Interested in attending Gore’s visit? Ideas for side-events? Contact Peter Vissers or visit the website of MGMC.

More information: Peter Vissers

Partners for Innovation hosts Biogas Initiative for Africa
The foundation “Biogas for Better Life: An African Initiative” was launched in Nairobi in 2007. The Initiative aims to install 2 million household-level biogas plants in 10 years. The ultimate objective is to develop a sustainable, commercial biogas sector, which will in turn improve the lives and livelihoods of families in Africa. National biogas program feasibility studies have been completed or are underway in some 15 African countries; biogas programs were recently launched in Rwanda and Ethiopia. The Initiative is supported by a large number of organisations including the African Development Bank, GTZ, SNV and the Shell Foundation. Partners for Innovation will host “Biogas for Africa”.

More information: Emiel Hanekamp

Renewable energy in developing countries: recipes for increased impact of European R&D
Together with its partners IT Power India, Nano Energy (South Africa) and Esenerg (Paraguay), Partners for Innovation has investigated the role of European R&D in furthering renewable energy in developing countries. The project team held its final workshop in Brussels on 29 September 2008 and shared its conclusions with representatives of the EC and European industry. The team demonstrated that R&D is an enabling factor in furthering the implementation of renewable energy in emerging and developing countries. R&D also helps in providing EU industry access to markets in these countries. The impact of European R&D could however be much higher and the project team has formulated several recommendations to achieve this. Interested? The project’s draft synthesis report is available here. Your opinion, suggestions and comments are highly appreciated!

More information: Peter Karsch

Nature based composites at the Dutch Design Week
The seventh edition of the Dutch Design Week, the largest design event in the Netherlands, will be held in Eindhoven from 18 to 26 October 2008. NPSP and Partners for Innovation have seized this opportunity to present the outcomes of their research on new applications for nature based composites. Project partners are Nedtrain, Leolux, RAU, Van de Bilt Seeds and Flax, ATO Compose, Spring Time and IVAM. The project is co-financed by SenterNovem. The presentation will take place on Tuesday 21 October at the “The Flowering City” location in Eindhoven. Interested? Contact Siem Haffmans or register via the website.

More information: Siem Haffmans

Role and impact of SMEs in energy research projects
The EC has commissioned Partners for Innovation to study the role and impact of Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in energy research. Focus is on presenting a comprehensive picture of SME participation and non-participation in energy research under FP5 and FP6, and on providing specific and operational recommendations on actions that can be taken by the EC services. The project will last for eight months; project activities include statistical analysis, projects assessment, desk research, participant surveys and interviews.

More information: Carolien van Merksteijn

Editorial: good and bad news about climate change
News about climate change is like news on the credit crisis: every day you think that we have had the worst, but then, the next day, you understand things are even worse. This week’s headlines included news that the global CO2 emission has increased four times quicker since 2000 than in the previous decade, according to a report of the Global Carbon Project. This is faster than the worst case scenarios predicted. Another report, released by the EEA, told us that Europe needs to intensify actions to adapt to climate change impacts because of the challenges that Europe already encounters today: increasing temperatures, changing precipitation, rising sea level, more intense and frequent extreme weather events and melting glaciers, ice sheets and Arctic sea ice.

However, there is also good news about climate change. To start with, the debate on climate change has completely shifted over the past five years, from whether we need to respond, to how we should respond. Secondly, the costs for a dramatic increase of carbon productivity, which is the obvious way forward, are likely to be manageable: in the order of 0.6 to 1.4 percent of global GDP by 2030 according to a recent McKinsey report. More good news: the renewable energy sector continues to show phenomenal growth rates, higher than any other energy sector, as shown by REN21’s status reports, our work in the RECIPES project and recent market research that we performed in Germany. And last but not least: energy efficiency has made a remarkable jump upwards on all of our personal priority lists, due to high energy prices.

More and more public and private organisations have decided to become climate neutral, through a mix of measures related to energy efficiency, use of renewable energy and investment in compensation projects. They do so because they consider that this is important for society and for their organisation’s own continuity.

For Partners for Innovation, climate change has been a focal point since the start. We have been climate neutral since 2006 and assist our clients in becoming climate neutral. In comparison to some years ago, the options to lower the carbon footprint are rapidly increasing. We believe that change towards low carbon technologies will advance much quicker than is foreseen by most people today. Who anticipated the success of the worldwide web or mobile phones before they really took off?

Emiel Hanekamp, director and co-founder Partners for Innovation.

  From:    unobserver at iom.int
Subject: International Organization for Migration: Press Briefing Notes 30 September 2008
Date:      September 30, 2008

ETHIOPIA – Skilled Expat Medics Arrive to Provide Medical Care, Training - A group 105 doctors and nurses, many of them members of the Ethiopian diaspora in North America, are this week travelling to Ethiopia to provide vital medical care in four hospitals in the capital, Addis Ababa. They will also share their knowledge with local health care professionals.

A group of 38 health care professionals, members of Operation Heart Beat, composed of Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialists and including members of the Friends of Ethiopia group, have already arrived in the country with state of the art medical equipment.

A second group of 67 medics, members of the Ethiopian North American Health Professionals Association (ENAHPA), will be travelling to Ethiopia later this week.

“These doctors, nurses and other medical professionals are participating in IOM’s Migration for Development in Ethiopia or MIDEth programme, a capacity building initiative aimed at strengthening the government’s institutional capacities to address some of this country’s acute human resources constraints,” explains Charles Kwenin, IOM’s Chief of Mission in Addis Ababa.

The medics will deliver specialized health services, including cardiac surgery, pacemaker implants, oral and maxillofacial and reconstructive surgery, neurosurgery, ENT surgery and tele-opthamology.

The mission will not only reach hundreds of Ethiopians with state-of-the-art medical services, but will also assist the country’s health sector professionals with hands-on training that will improve the standard of health care in major Ethiopian hospitals.

IOM’s MidEth programme also extends beyond the health sector. Later this month two professors will travel to Ethiopia to teach at Addis Ababa University.  One, a business professor, will remain in the country for three months. The other, an information technology specialist, will lead a one-month seminar for PhD students.

IT specialist Dr. Nega Gebreyesus, a senior manager at a US Government agency, says that he always wanted to take part in a knowledge transfer scheme between the Ethiopian diaspora and his country of origin. “The flexible and short-term nature of this programme works well with my work and family responsibilities.  These short-term trips can be complemented by remote technology-based engagements,” he says.

IOM is working with the Government of Ethiopia (the Expatriates Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Capacity Building and Ministry of Finance and Economic Development), with financial support from the UN Development Programme (UNDP), to provide travel and other assistance to the experts, who are all based in the USA and Canada.

Ethiopian Airlines is also supporting the initiative, providing discounted airfares and bigger baggage allowances to transport some of the medical equipment.

For more information please contact Charles Kwenin at IOM Addis Abba, Tel: +251.115511673. Email:   ckwenin at iom.int

Jens Stoltenberg, Gordon Brown, Bill Gates, Robert Zoellick, Margaret Chan and other speakers will launch an initiative to save 10 Million mothers and newborns by 2015 - at a press conference at 10.30am on 25 September at the UN Headquarters.

This from the Norwegian Mission: Siri Gjortz (+1 646 642 9910)

UK Mission: Heather Pillans (+44 7795 656487) or Justin McKenzie Smith (917 282 0128)

World Bank: Phil Hay (+1 202 409 2909)

WORLD LEADERS LAUNCH A PLAN FOR SAVING 10 MILLION MOTHERS AND NEWBORNS BY 2015.

Today, a group of World Leaders will commit to actions aimed at saving 10 million mothers and newborns in the poorest countries by 2015.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway launched the first year Progress Report on the Global Campaign for Health. The Report demonstrates that increased investments in health - a doubling of health aid since 2000 - are having results. More than 2 million people are now receiving AIDS treatment, the rapid scale-up of effective malaria programmes is leading to dramatic reductions in child mortality and measles deaths have fallen by 68% since 1999.

But the Report also calls for urgent, effective international action to accelerate progress towards the UN goals of reducing maternal and child deaths by 2015. To save 3m mothers and 7m newborns - and meet these goals - an extra $2.4bn in 2009 rising to $7bn in 2015 will be needed.

Responding to this call, Heads of Governments and Health Agencies committed to mobilise international support for stronger health systems, including the training and recruitment of over 1 million health workers.

Specific pledges included an announcement by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown of nearly $1bn over the next 3 years to support national health plans in 8 countries, and a commitment from Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank, to base teams of new, expert staff in Africa over the coming months to help some of the poorest countries to strengthen their health systems for better maternal, newborn and child health.

And, while these traditional investments in the health of the poor remain vital to tackling disease, helping developing countries to recruit and retain health workers, and build and develop their own health systems will require a new long-term approach to health financing. So today world leaders announced the establishment of a high-level Taskforce on Innovative Financing for Health Systems, to make recommendations to the Italian G8 Summit in 2009 on how innovative aid mechanisms can complement other sources of finance to deliver the extra resources that are needed.

An unprecedented coalition of partners has gathered in New York to support the Global Campaign’s call for urgent action. Summarising the range of events taking place, Margaret Chan pledged to keep the cause of mothers and children firmly at the top of the international development agenda and with development and civil society partners, rapidly scale up support for countries through the International Health Partnership to develop and finance comprehensive national health plans.

1)      Those at the press conference will incluse Prime Minister Stoltenberg (Norway), Prime Minister Brown (UK), Margaret Chan (Director-General, World Health Organisation), Robert Zoellick (President, World Bank), Bill Gates, Phillipe Douste-Blazy (UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Innovative Financing) and Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul (Germany, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on the review conference on Financing for Development).

2)      On 26 September 2007, in New York a group of world leaders will meet to launch the Global Campaign for the Health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Global Campaign aims to give renewed impetus to MDGs 4, 5 and 6. These MDGs focus on the urgent need to improve maternal, newborn and child health and to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

3)      The first year report of the Global Campaign includes individual and collective contributions from 14 heads of State/Government and 18 international leaders. The report provides an update of major activities during the last year, and highlights concrete actions that are required to accelerate the necessary progress if we are to reach the health related MDGs by 2015.

4)      The report demonstrates that investments in health are yielding results in terms of lives saved:

·       More than 2 million people are now receiving AIDS treatment. And, for the first time since the AIDS epidemic began, the number of people newly infected in a year has declined.

·       Malaria nets are being distributed much more rapidly leading to dramatic reductions in child mortality.
·       More vaccines are reaching more children than ever before.
·       Unprecedented financial commitments have been made. For instance, the US Government has pledged US$48 billion to combat AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, while India this year has allocated US$3 billion to improve the health of the rural poor.

5)      But much more must be done. The Global Campaign is calling for an extra $2.4bn in 2009 rising to $7bn in 2015 to save 3m mothers and 7m newborns by 2015. This money will support stronger health systems, including over 1 million extra health workers, and the additional costs needed to ensure 400m extra births take place in a quality assured clinics. If delivered it will represent a 70% reduction in the death rate for mothers and babies and would ensure the achievement of both MDG4 and 5 for the majority of the poorest countries.

6)      These health systems are critical to ensuring that pregnant mothers and their newborn infants get the care they need, especially during complications in pregnancy. As part of the Global Campaign, the International Health Partnership (IHP) was launched to help improve the way donors support national health plans for health systems. 14 developing countries are members of the IHP and related initiatives (IHP+): Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Zambia. These countries are preparing national plans (IHP Compacts) to build stronger health systems, including providing more health workers.

7)      The Taskforce for Innovative International Finance for Health Systems will help to mobilise the extra money that is needed to finance plans such as these. For example, Germany has supported a mechanism which offers debt cancellation linked to investments in the health sector. Other existing instruments include the French-led UNITAID, the results based financing trust fund and the international finance facility for immunisation.

8)      The Taskforce will be co-Chaired by Gordon Brown and Robert Zoellick and comprises 8 additional members:

·       President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Liberia)
·       Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg (Norway)
·       Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Health Minister, Ethiopia)
·       Bernard Kouchner (Foreign Minister, France)
·       Guilio Tremonti (Finance Minister, Italy)
·       Heidemarie Wierczorek-Zeul (Development Minister, Germany)
·       Margaret Chan (Director-General of the World Health Organisation)
·       Graça Machel

Phillipe Douste-Blazy, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Innovative Financing will serve as a Special Adviser to the Taskforce.

9)      The Taskforce will convene up to 4 times over the next 12 months, with its first meeting at the Financing for Development Conference in Doha in November, and will report to the Italian G8 Summit in 2009. It will be supported by a Secretariat hosted by the World Bank and the WHO.

Bright side of the U.S. financial meltdown.

By TOM PLATE, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008, http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/eo20…
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Rather than curse the current financial darkness, let us try to light candles. Without blowing our credibility entirely, let us see if we can illuminate the brighter side of this global meltdown. Here is a trio of pluses to try on for size.

***

No. 1 is that the United States will probably now have to lecture the world a lot less on economic issues. How wonderful! That, at least, should reduce global rhetorical warming. Asia, in particular, deserves get a break from Uncle Know-It-All.

The American financial establishment, it seems, is now raising the same systemic questions about the financial practice of “shorting” companies and stocks as were raised by angry Asians during the Asian Financial Crisis. Then, even otherwise well-regulated economies and companies were attacked by Western hedge funds betting ravenously that currencies and stock prices in the region would fall.

The Asian argument was that such shorting (betting on downturns) can create self-fulfilling prophecies of lower stock and currency values. Back then, a smug America would not listen. But now that the tables have turned, the long and short of it is that the U.S. establishment is having Asian-like doubts.

Listen to what the head of Morgan Stanley, a frequent short-broker itself, said the other day about the effect of all the shorting of his own huge company: “There is no rational basis for the (downward) movement in our stock or credit-default spreads,” complained John Mack. “We’re in the midst of a market controlled by fear and rumors, and short-sellers are driving our stock down.”

Asians may be permitted to derive a measure of sad pleasure from the sight of a huge U.S. investment bank reeling from a dose of its own medicine.

***

A second quantum of solace will come when almost everyone realizes that the U.S. can no longer continue to shell out $2 billion a month for the Iraq War. “There is no such thing as a free war,” said the widely respected Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz in a speech the other night in Los Angeles. “And this has been a particularly expensive war.”

Much of our Iraq War debt, which Stiglitz calculates is at least $3 trillion, has been financed by foreign investors, including China and Japan. That can’t continue much longer. Expect pressure to end the war to intensify. For those of us who never liked this war, the bottom line is this: the sooner the better.

***

The third arguable plus of this crisis is the renewed sense of the remaining relevance of U.S. economic vitality. Note that AIG, the insurance giant based in the U.S., is being saved by the Bush administration on the principle that AIG is too big to fail. That is to say: the crush of a potential avalanche of historic proportions, unlike the periodic light snowfall, is not worth risking if it can be prevented.

This makes logical sense: But here’s another entity that’s also too big to fail: the United States. Petty geopolitics aside, Asia has much more to lose than gain if the U.S. tanks. Asian governments and private investment institutions have socked a chunk of their collective life savings in various high-quality U.S. government investments. The totality of their commitment is awesome. If they panic and pull out now, while the market is down, they pull the rug out from under their sovereign strategic plans.

Asia knows that an unhealthy U.S. is bad medicine for everyone, including Asia. Asia’s goals are not to conqueror territory or impose values but rather to avoid poverty and to continue economic development. The region’s persistent pragmatism is a source of its strength.

That would happen eventually even if the U.S. were to disappear from the face of the earth. But it will take Asia much longer and the road will be much steeper without a vibrant U.S.

Perhaps Asia can take comfort in the axiom that at some point what falls down almost always gets back up on its feet again. This will be good for everybody.

From:    sophie.stn at googlemail.com
Subject: Press Invitation to Meet Civil Society at UN Poverty Summit
Date: September 24, 2008 2:15:46 PM EDT
To:    louis.belanger at oxfaminternational.org

TODAY - INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY.

MEET THE ONLY 6 CIVIL SOCEITY REPRESENTATIVES TO BE GRANTED ACCESS TO
THE MDG ROUNDTABLE MEETINGS ON SEPTEMBER 25TH
WHERE - Radisson Hotel, Lex and 48th , Florentine Room.
WHEN - Wednesday, 24th @ 3-4.30pm

WHO?
(1) Mr. Ndiogou Fall
President of ROPPA, the Network of Peasant and Agricultural Producer
Organizations of West Africa
ROPPA gathers organizations from 10 different countries in the region
representing more than 40 millions peasants. The organization focuses
on capacity building and advocacy work at the local, regional and
international levels.

(2) Mr. Ashok Bharti
Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (GCAP India)
Born in Basti Rajaram, a slum for untouchables near Jama Masjid in
old Delhi, Ashok was one among seven children. Growing up as a poor
Dalit, Ashok has a clear understanding of the vulnerabilities of
underprivileged communities. Ashok studied at Hindu College and then
the Delhi College of Engineering. He later studied manufacturing
management for his post-graduate degree in Australia, where he served
as president of the international students’ body and, later, as the
central representative of the entire students’ body.

(3) Dorothy Ngoma
Executive Director of the National Organization of Nurses and
Midwives of Malawi
Acknowledged as an extraordinary leader in nursing, gender issues,
education and social development, Dorothy Ngoma has played a
significant role in shaping the stature and organisation of nursing
in Malawi. A vigorous campaigner on behalf of the citizens of Malawi,
she has persistently lobbied officials about conditions in the
country’s hospitals, clinics and schools.

(4) Mr. Charles F. MacCormack,
President and CEO, Save the Children US, and Chairman of the Board,
InterAction
InterAction is the largest coalition of U.S.-based international
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) focused on the world’s poor and
most vulnerable people.  InterAction leverages the impact of this
private support by advocating for the expansion of U.S. government
investments and by insisting that policies and programs are
responsive to the realities of the world’s poorest and most
vulnerable populations.

(5) Ms. Barbara Stocking,
CEO, Oxfam GB
During the last 4 years, Barbara has led Oxfam’s response to
humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, for the Tsunami and
the Pakistan Earthquake. Previously a member of the top management
team of the United Kingdom’s National Health Service, in her eight
years with the NHS, Barbara worked as regional director, and her last
appointment was as Director of the Modernisation Agency, charged with
modernising the NHS.

(6) Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez
Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras / President of Caritas
Internationalis
In addition to his Episcopal responsibilities, he is currently the
President of the Episcopal Conference of Honduras. Rodríguez was one
of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave
that selected Pope Benedict XVI.

———————

Ciara O’Sullivan
Media Coordinator
Global Call to Action Against Poverty - GCAP
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Israel may help the Arab world reach its potential.
By Frida Ghitis, September 22, 2008.
 http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enDi…;

In the wake of the Kadima party’s primary elections, the process of replacing Israel’s prime minister will begin in earnest. The leading candidates, as one would expect, have been discussing the familiar litany of problems facing the country: the threat from Iran, the challenge from Hamas, the dangers posed by Hezbollah, and the conflict with Palestinians and Arab countries.

Considering the long list of grave dangers, it might seem surprising that Israel’s economy is not flashing distress signals. In fact, while the global economy has split into two camps - one swimming in oil wealth, the other limping partly because of the high price of oil - Israel, a country with almost no natural resources, has just reported its best unemployment rate in more than two decades.

To be sure, Israel’s economy will slow down because it is deeply intertwined with the rest of the world. But it has kept growing strongly despite an international credit spasm and a spike in commodity prices. One can only imagine the explosion of prosperity that would follow if real peace were achieved in the Middle East.

Glimpses of potential:

We can already see glimpses of the potential. In Dubai, the dazzling emirate that dares to be different, an Israeli-born Italian architect, David Fisher, will build another astonishing addition to the Gulf skyline. The 80-floor tower will feature floors that rotate independently, changing the shape of the building and the views from each window. The undulating structure will produce its own energy, with solar-power cells on the roof of each floor. The idea is revolutionary for many reasons, beginning with the birthplace of the architect. Arab countries don’t do business with Israelis. But Israelis have much to contribute, and progressive Arabs working with them could create world-transforming partnerships.

Israel today attracts more foreign investment than anyone, except the United States and the European Union, because its entrepreneurs and scientists have proven that they can produce and innovate. Israeli products and inventions touch all of our lives.

Israel has what the Arab world needs. And Israelis would rejoice in true partnerships with their Arab neighbors.

Until now, the Arab Middle East has looked like a grotesque display of haves and have-nots. Oil-rich countries have splurged on luxuries while importing servants and cheap labor from poor neighbors. Israel, meanwhile - and, for a time, Lebanon - built an economy that relies on the skills and talents of its people. Israeli prosperity created thousands of jobs for Palestinians, until suicide bombings led to check points and dreadful difficulties for West Bank and Gaza residents.

A vibrant economy:

Despite wars, violence, and political scandals, Israel has kept investing in its people and creating a vibrant economy that could one-day help remake the entire region.

Last year, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development invited Israel to apply for membership. The exclusive OECD brings together 30 of the world’s richest economies that are committed to democracy and free markets.

Undeterred by political scandals and by defense spending - far exceeding US aid to Israel - that sucks out a huge portion of the national income, Israel has an exceptional educational system that stimulates creativity and independent thinking. The country has some of the world’s highest rates of university graduates, of doctorates, book production, technology companies, patents, innovation, discoveries, and much more.

The Arab world has always had enormous potential and, for a time, it produced great knowledge. Then came cultural stagnation. But that will change one day.

Much of the region has been derailed by war, extremism, and despotism. Precious time and treasure have been wasted. Israel, meanwhile, has focused on survival - and has thrived.

Last year, for example, the government decided to give a big push to electric cars. Israel will become the world’s lab for electric cars, with participation from several European companies, and Israeli technology and government incentives to create a national network for electric transportation.

Israel doesn’t have to be an isolated island of innovation. Can we imagine the citizens of a place like Dubai joining hands with Israelis to seek alternatives to oil? Picture that: Gulf oil money and talent working with Israelis pursuing the future beyond oil, or tackling global warming; or working together to build on Israeli inventions that lower water usage in that parched part of the world. Israeli ingenuity and resourcefulness, plus Arab funding and creativity, could turn the Middle East into a region of peace and prosperity, instead of one of violence and extremism.

For now, however, one hears the politicians and returns back to today’s reality. For now, it’s about facing dangers and focusing on survival.